In Season

Courtesy of Chef Chris Holland, adapted from Sous Vide: The Art of Precision Cooking
Serves 10 or more

INGREDIENTS

• 5 pound (2.5 kg) boneless ham
• 1/3 cup (80 g) Dijon mustard
• ¼ cup (65 g) maple syrup
• ¼ cup (65 g) honey
• 2 oranges, for peeled zest only
• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) Mixed Spice*
• 6 bay leaves
• 6 pods star anise
• 6 ½ ounces (200 ml) cola
• 20 juniper berries
• 6 cloves
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) chopped thyme
• 3 ¼ ounces (100 ml) fresh ginger juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Fill and preheat the SousVide Supreme water oven to 149F/65C.
2. Put all ingredients, except the ham, into a saucepan; bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer gently for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
3. Once cool, pour the seasoning liquid into a large cooking pouch, add the ham, and vacuum seal in a chamber vacuum. If using a suction sealer, use the Moist setting if available and take care to force the seal before liquid can be pulled into the sealing chamber. Alternatively, you can use a large zip closure cooking pouch and the displacement method (Archimedes’ Principle) to remove the air and zip the seal. (If the ham is too large for your largest cooking pouch, cut it in half and pack in two cooking pouches, dividing the seasoning liquid between them.)
4. Submerge the pouch in the water oven to cook for 12 hours.
5. When ready to finish, preheat the traditional oven to 400F/200C.
6. Remove the ham from the pouch and transfer to a roasting pan. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes for lovely, crispy fat.

* Mixed Spice is a combination of 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon each ground coriander and ground nutmeg, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, and ¼ teaspoon each ground allspice and ground clove.

No sous vide? Hmmm. We can help!

Courtesy of Chef Elise Wiggins (Panzano, Denver, CO)

Note: This recipe requires preparation to begin 3 days before you plan to serve.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lamb shanks
• olive oil, as needed
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 4 sprigs thyme
• ¼ cup (60 ml) veal demi glace
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten with a tablespoon of water
• all-purpose flour, as needed for dusting prior to breading.
• 1 cup (120 g) panko bread crumbs
• 1 recipe Italian Salsa Verde, for serving (recipe follows)

DIRECTIONS

1.  Fill and preheat the SousVide Supreme water oven to 144F/62C.
2. Rub shanks with oil and season with salt and pepper.
3. Put shanks into a large cooking pouch, put a couple of thyme sprigs on top of each one and, vacuum seal.
4. Submerge the pouch(es) in the water oven to cook for 2 days.
5. Remove the shanks from the pouches and reserve the pouch juices.
6. Pull meat off the bones and set aside.
7. On the stovetop, in a saucepan, simmer the pouch juices until slightly thickened. Skim and discard the foam that accumulates as your reduce.
8. Transfer the reduction to a clean sauce pot and add the veal demi glace; reduce over medium low heat until the sauce is nape (ie until the sauce will coat the back of a spoon).
9. Add the lamb meat to the sauce and mix meat and sauce together well. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
10. Using an ounce/gram scale, weigh the meat and divide into 4 equal portions.
11. Put a portion onto a piece of plastic wrap/cling film and roll meat into a tight cylinder. Repeat until all meat portions are rolled. Refrigerate overnight.
12. When ready to finish, heat high-smoke point oil to 330F/165C in a deep fryer
13. Bread the lamb croquettes as follows:
    1. Remove the plastic wrap from the lamb cylinders
    2. Put the flour, egg wash, and panko crumbs into three separate shallow bowls
    3. Roll the lamb cylinders first in flour, gently patting off the excess, then in the egg wash, then completely cover in the panko.
14. Fry until golden.  Drain on paper towels/kitchen paper and serve with Italian Salsa Verde and your favorite sides, such as roasted root vegetables.

Italian Salsa VerdeItalian Salsa Verde
Makes: About 1 to 1 ½ cups (240 to 360 ml)

INGREDIENTS

• 6 medium cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 1 cup (40 g) coarsely chopped fresh parsley
• 4 anchovy fillets ( oil pressed out with paper towels/kitchen paper)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) finely grated lemon zest
• 1 /2 cup (120 ml) 3gg yolks
• 2/3 cup (160 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Put the garlic into a small saucepan and cover with 1/2 inch (1 cm) of cold water.
2. Bring to a boil over high heat, and as soon as the water boils, drain, add 1/2 inch (1 cm) of fresh water to the pan and bring to a boil again. Drain and rinse under cold water until cool enough to handle. Peel and coarsely chop.
3. Put the garlic, parsley, anchovies, basil, tarragon, and lemon zest into a food processor or blender. Add the egg yolks.
4. Turn the blender on and, with the motor running, slowly add oil until just blended. The sauce should still have a little texture.
5. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Liz Harris (Floating Kitchen)

INGREDIENTS
For the pears

• 2 firm pears, peeled, halved and cored (Bosc or similar)
• 3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup (Grade B, if you can find it)
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) brandy
• 1/2 fresh vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped

For the dressing and salad

• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) champagne or white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) reserved poaching liquid
• 1/8 teaspoon (1.25 ml) salt
• 1/8 teaspoon (1.25 ml) pepper
• 2 small heads frisee
• 1 cup (120 g) walnuts, toasted
• 1 cup (115 g) blue cheese, crumbled

DIRECTIONS
For the pears

1. Fill and preheat the SousVide Supreme water oven to 158F/70C.
2. Put the pear halves and the cardamom pods into a large cooking pouch.
3. In a small bowl, combine the maple syrup, brandy, and vanilla bean seeds and pour this mixture over the pears in the cooking pouch.
4. Vacuum seal the pouch on the Moist setting, if available, being very careful not to suck the liquid up into the vacuum sealer. Alternatively, you can use a large zip-closure cooking pouch and use the displacement method to remove as much air from the pouch as possible before sealing it closed.
5. Submerge the cooking pouch in the water oven to cook for 30 to 40 minutes.
6. Carefully remove the cooking pouch; the pears should be soft, yet still retain a little bit of resistance. Remove them from the cooking pouch and set aside. Reserve 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the pouch liquid.
7. Make the dressing; in a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, reserved poaching liquid, salt and pepper.

To plate

1. Divide the frisee evenly among 4 bowls. Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of dressing over the frisee. Top each portion with a quarter of the walnuts and the blue cheese crumbles, and top with a poached pear half.
2. Serve immediately.

* If you plan to serve this as a starter for a large meal, go with a slightly smaller serving size. You can cut the pears into quarters, dividing the salad up into 8 plates.